Process for forming serrated flanged pipe



June 24, 1969 J. 5. GALLINGER PROCESS FOR FORMING SERRATED FLANGED PIPEwhy 4 1, a

'INVENTOR Jay 5 flAU/VGEE V I, BY!- MZz ATTORNEYS June 24, 1969 J. 5.GALLINGER 3,451,243

PROCESS FOR FORMING SERRATED FLANGED PIPE Filed Aug. 5, 1966 Sheet 3 of2 INVENTOR ,jqy fflzu/vaae ATTORNEY;

United States Patent 3,451,243 PROCESS FOR FORMING SERRATED FLANGED PIPEJay S. Gallinger, Wilmington, Del., assignor to Galaxie Manufacturing(10., Wilmington, Del., a company of Delaware Filed Aug. 3, 1966, Ser.No. 569,881 Int. Cl. B21b 23/00, 19/08, 17/00 US. Cl. 72-124 9 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A process for forming serrations on a face ofa pipe flange involves the steps of forming a flange on the end of apipe with a smooth surfaced forming means, replacing the flange formingmeans with a serrated forming means, and finish forming the flange withthe serrated forming means to produce a flanged pipe having concentricserrations formed in the flange face.

This invention relates to a novel process for forming a flange on a pipeand for simultaneously forming serrations in a face of the formedflange. The process has special application to forming metal pipeproducts, however, it is useful for forming flanged pipes or tubes fromother materials as well.

Method for forming flanges on the ends of pipes are generally well knownin the art, as exemplified by the Lindberg Patent 1,421,507. Such priorart methods have utilized various forms of apparatus to lap or form anend portion of a pipe into an outwardly flared flange having a flat facewhich in use can be abutted against a similar flange on an adjoiningpipe. In addition, separate methods have been used for forming groovesin the exposed flange face which is to be abutted against an adjoiningflange, or other object, and serrated faces on such flanges offercertain advantages in retaining gasket material between adjoining pipesections and in preventing cold flow of certain thermoplastic gasketmaterials. However, the formation of serrations on flange faces has beena costly operation since it requires one or more separate machiningoperations to complete the final pipe product. The Albro Patent3,253,449 illustrates a pipe product having a typical end flange withconcentric serrations, or grooves, formed therein. The Albro patent isalso illustrative of the rather complex and costly assembly procedureswhich have been resorted to in providing serrated surfaces on pipeflanges. Also, other methods have been used which require a separatemachining of concentric grooves in a pipe flange face after the flangehas been formed in conventional forming apparatus.

The present invention is concerned with producing, in a single novelprocess, a flanged pipe product having serrations included in a face ofthe formed flange. According to the present invention, the serrationswhich are desired on a flange face are formed on the flange during thesame process which develops the end of a pipe into a flanged structure.In one embodiment, the novel process partially develops a flange tosomething less than its full 90 degree position relative to thelongitudinal axis of the pipe, and then the flange is finished to itsfinal 90 degree position, or whatever angle may be desired, to includeconcentric serrations in the finished flange face. However, the processmay alternatively develop serrations in the flanged end portion of apipe during an earlier stage of the flange formation or simultaneouslywith the entire flange forming operation.

With the process of this invention, the desired pipe product is formedat a lower cost and with all of the advantages of such a product asproduced by prior costly methods requiring machining or similaroperations after a flange has been formed on a pipe. Further, theprocess lends itself to the use of present day apparatus, with certainmodifications which will be discussed in this application, andtherefore, it is not necessary to replace present pipe forming apparatuswith a new type of machinery.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will becomeapparent in the more detailed discussion which follows, and in thatdiscussion reference will be made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 represents an overall perspective view of apparatus used in aflange forming operation in accordance with the present invention;

FIGURE 2 illustrates in cross section a portion of a pipe end which isbeing held in a die shell to receive flanging and serrating operationsin accordance with the invention, and an initial step in the process isillustrated;

FIGURE 3 illustrates a further step from that shown in FIGURE 2, and inthis step the flange is partially formed to a position which is slightlyless than its final relationship to the main body of the pipe;

FIGURE 4 is a similar view to FIGURES 2 and 3 and illustrates a finalstep in the process for finishing the flange and simultaneously applyingserrations to a face of the flange, and

FIGURE 5 is an illustration of a roller device used with the apparatusof this invention to form serrations in the flange face of a pipe.

Flanges may be formed in end portions of pipes by working and bendingthe end portions radially outwardly against a die surface until adesired development of a flange has been attained. As already mentioned,the Lindberg patent illustrates suitable apparatus for developing aflange at a pipe end. The apparatus illustrated in the Lindberg patentis an example of an early arrangement for forming pipe flanges, but morerecent apparatus has been used which places a roller means against aninner surface of a protruding pipe section for working the protrudingsection against a die shell in which the pipe is held. Such apparatusincludes means for pneumatically or hydraulically positioning the rollerdevice so that its axis of rotation may be changed relative to thelongitudinal axis of the pipe. In this way, a roller means may beinitially placed against the inside surface of a pipe end and rotatedaround the circumference of that surface to work that surface into acondition for shaping. The same roller means is then slowly adjusted inits position relative to the pipe so that the axis of rotation for theroller moves away from the central axis of the pipe, and thus the pipeend is ultimately developed into a flange which extends radiallyoutwardly from the pipe and at approximate right angles to the centrallongitudinal axis of the pipe. Such apparatus is well known in the artfor lapping or flanging pipe ends, but the prior methods have requiredadditional apparatus and separate operations to finish for-med flangesso as to include concentric serrations in their exposed face.

The general view in FIGURE 1 shows typical apparatus which may be usedwith the process of this invention for forming and serrating a flange ona pipe end. A die shell 10 is designed to carry a pipe section 12 whichis to be formed with a flanged end, and the pipe section is placed inthe die shell so as to leave an end portion 14 protruding therefrom. Inthe illustration of FIGURE 1, the end portion has been worked radiallyoutwardly from the longitudinal axis AA of the main pipe body so as topresent the illustrated flange on the end of the main pipe body 12.FIGURE 1 also shows a roller means 16 positioned adjacent to the dieshell for a working contact with the protruding end portion of the pipe.The roller means 16 includes a smooth working portion 18 which confactsthe inner surface of the pipe end to develop it into the flange which isshown. Of course, the roller means 16 is suitably mounted on apparatuswhich can be moved toward and away from the die shell 10, and suchconventional apparatus has been omitted from the drawings for claritysince machines of this type are well known in the art. The apparatuswhich carries the roller means 16 also includes means for moving theroller means about the circumference of the pipe end, and additionally,control means are included for changing the angle C between the centrallongitudinal axis AA of the pipe and the axis of rotation B-B of theroller means. In a typical apparatus, the roller means is frictiondriven about its axis BB while being orbited around the axis AA of thepipe so as to contact and develop the protruding end portion of thepipe. As the flange is developed, a typical apparatus includes pneumaticmeans for changing the angle C between the axes AA and B-B so that theroller means 16 causes the pipe end portion to bend outwardly against anoutside surface of the die shell FIGURES 2 through 4 illustrate a seriesof steps in the process of the present invention, and the apparatus usedis similar to that described for FIGURE 1. At the beginning of theprocess a pipe 12, or whatever other tubular structure is being worked,is placed within a bore of the die shell 10 so that an end portion 14 ofthe pipe protrudes out of the die shell, as illustrated. Then, theapparatus which carries the roller means 16 is moved toward theprotruding end portion of the pipe to contact the inner surface of theend portion. The initial contact between the smooth surfaced roller 16and the protruding end portion of the pipe is shown in FIGURE 2, andonce the roller means is in position, the apparatus can be operated toorbit the roller about the entire circumference of the pipe end. As theroller means is orbited, the roller rotates on its axis B-B, and thesmooth surface 18 of the roller begins to work the material of theprotruding pipe portion.

Then the roller means 16 is slowly adjusted, such as by pneumaticcontrol devices, to apply a pressure against the inner surface of thepipe end, and as the axis BB is changed relative to a longitudinal axisof the pipe, the end portion is flared radially outwardly to form aflange. FIGURE 3 illustrates the partial formation of a flange, asdeveloped from the end portion 14 of the main pipe body. In the FIGURE 3position, the roller means 16 has been adjusted from the initialposition shown in FIGURE 2 so as to develop a flange which approaches anapproximate 90 degree angle relative to the longitudinal axis of thepipe. However, it has been found that the desired serrations for such aflange can be developed during the flange forming operation if thesmooth surfaced roller is replaced by a serrated surfaced roller priorto the completion of the flange forming sequence.

FIGURE 4 shows that the roller with a smooth surface 18 has beenreplaced by the roller 20 having equally spaced annular grooves orserrations cut into its flange contacting surface. When the serratedroller 20 is engaged with the exposed flange surface (which wasinitially the inner surface of the pipe end 14), there are formedconcentric serrations in the flange face corresponding to the groovescut into the roller 20. After the roller 20 is engaged against theexposed flange face, it is then moved further by the abovementionedpneumatic means to press into the flange surface and to form theconcentric serrations therein. In the preferred process, it has beenfound that the step of forming concentric serrations in the flange faceshould be applied before the flange is fully formed to its finalposition. In the usual flange formation, it is desired to produce aflange which extends radially outwardly from a pipe body at an angle ofapproximately 90 degrees as related to an axis of the pipe body. Whensuch a flange is to be formed, it has been found that the initial stepsof the process, which may include the use of a smooth surfaced roller,should be applied until the flange is partially formed to a positionwithin the range of 86 degrees to 88 degrees as related to the centrallongitudinal axis of a uniform diameter pipe. When this partially formedflange has been produced, the pipe is removed from holding dies, and thesmooth surfaced roller is replaced by a serrated surfaced roller, whichis more completely illustrated in FIGURE 5. Then the pipe is reinsertedin the holding dies, or die shell, and the final forming and serratingtakes places while the flange is being developed to its final positionof approximately 90 degrees as related to the pipe body. FIGURE 4illustrates the final position of the serrated roller for forming such a90 degree flange, and also a specially shaped die shell is illustratedwherein the upright face portion 24 of the die shell is shaped toreceive the back side of the formed flange. The usual die shell face isflat as indicated by the dotted lines XX, and the die shell which isused with this invention is built up to support the flange during theserrating operation. Also the corner 26 of the die is shaped with aradius to accommodate the formed radius on the back side of the flange.

As an example of the present invention, a serrated roller has been usedwhich produces spaced serrations having flat topped peaks ofapproximately .020 inch in width and having groove walls between thepeaks that are at 45 degree angles to the flat peaks. Various diameterrollers may be used in accordance with the size of pipe flange which isto be formed, and pipe sizes ranging from /2 inch to 6 inches (withoutside diameters from .840 to 6.625 inches) have been formed withserrated flanges having outside diameters for the laps ranging from 1%inches to 8 /2 inches. The serrations formed in the various pipe sizesare of the desired configuration and offer all of the advantages andfeatures of machined serrations formed by separate processes. Theprocess of this invention is useful for forming pipes made from variousmetal materials, such as copper, aluminum, brass, carbon steel, Monel,nickel, Inconel and stainless steel, and also for non-metal materials.

Although the process has been primarily described as including aninitial use of a smooth surfaced roller, it is also possible to form theserrated flange by using a serrated roller for the entire flangingoperation. The use of one method or the other will depend upon the typeof material which is being worked, and further, it may be necessary toinclude an annealing step prior to the final formation of a metalserrated flange which uses both types of rollers to obtain the finalflange product. Also, the apparatus which is used to carry out theinvention may utilize more than one roller at a time and many variationsin apparatus are possible to carry out the steps of the novel process.The process is especially useful for serrating pipe flangessimultaneously with the roll forming of such flanges, but it is alsocontemplated that the roll serrating part of the process can be appliedto preformed flanged pipes. Other modifications and changes in theprocess will become apparent to those skilled in the art and suchchanges are intended to be included within the scope of this invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A process for forming pipe with a flange having concentric serrationsincluded on a face of the flange comprising the steps of:

placing a pipe, or other tubular stock, within a bore of a die shellwith an end portion of said pipe protuding from said die shell,

contacting an inner surface of said protruding pipe portion with asmooth surfaced roller,

moving said smooth surfaced roller relative to said pipe so as tocontact all of the inner pipe surface about its entire circumferencewhile maintaining a flat smooth surface of said roller in contact withthe inner pipe surface,

forming a flange on said pipe by bending said protruding pipe portionoutwardly away from a central longitudinal axis of said pipe, saidforming step being accomplished by changing the relative angle betweenthe surface of said roller and the central longitudinal axis of saidpipe so as to form the protruding end portion of the pipe into a flange,

removing said smooth surfaced roller from contact with the protrudingportion of the pipe when a flange is partially formed and replacing thesmooth surfaced roller with a roller having serrations formed about itssurface,

engaging said serrated roller surface with the partially formed flange,and

pressing the serrated roller surface against the exposed flange face tofinish forming a flange and to simultaneously form concentric serrationsin the face of said flange.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein said rollers rotate about centrallongitudinal axes while contacting their respective surfaces with theinner surface of said protruding pipe portion.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein said rollers are moved about thecircumference of said protruding pipe portion While the pipe is heldstationary in said die shell.

4. The process of claim 1 wherein said pipe is rotated when said rollersare in contact with the inner surface of the protruding pipe portion.

5. The process of claim 1 wherein said flange is partially formed bysaid smooth surfaced roller to an angle of less than 90 degrees relativeto the longitudinal axis of said pipe, and then finish formed with saidserrated roller to an angle of substantially 90 degrees.

6. The process of claim 5 wherein said flange is partially formed bysaid smooth surfaced roller to an angle of approximately 86 degrees.

7. A process for forming serrations on a face of a pipe flangesimultaneously with the formation of the flange itself, comprising thesteps of:

contacting an inner surface of an end portion of a pipe with a smoothsurfaced flange forming means, moving the smooth surfaced flange formingmeans and pipe relative to one another to bend the end portion of thepipe outwardly into a flange shape, replacing the smooth surfaced flangeforming means with a serrated forming means, and finish forming theflange with said serrated forming means to produce a flanged pipe havingconcentric serrations formed in the flange face.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein said serrated forming means replacesthe smooth flange forming means before the flange has been fully turnedto a degree angle relative to a longitudinal axis of said pipe.

9. The process of claim 8 wherein the replacement step is made when theflange is partially formed at an angle of approximately 86 degreesrelative to a longitudinal axis of the pipe.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,421,507 7/1922 Lindberg 72-3 671,775,766 9/1930 Holmes 72125 2,618,182 11/1952 Teetor 72703 2,253,4495/1966 \Albro 72316 RICHARD J. HERBST, Primary Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R 72 125, 367

